Mich. Gov. Faces Political Standoff With Teachers Over Budget Cuts

After largely avoiding Wisconsin-style protests over the past few
months, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is now facing the prospect
of a teachers' strike to protest his proposed education cuts,
the WSJ reports.

Michigan's teachers' union is asking its 155,000 members to vote
this month to authorize "crisis" measures, including an illegal
strike, in the event that Gov. Snyder's budget passes.

In response, Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation
that would
increase penalties for teachers' strikes, including revoking
or suspending teachers' licenses and imposing a $5,000 per day
fine for the union.

Michigan's public sector unions have
vehemently opposed the governor's plan to close the state's
$1.8 billion budget shortfall, which includes a 4% cut to the
state's K-12 education budget.

So far, however, Gov. Snyder has avoided the large-scale union
protests that have
rocked Wisconsin,
Ohio and
Indiana, largely because he has not gone after public
workers' collective bargaining rights.